


Beloved

by TygerRises



Series: FE3H Song Prompt Week - Mumford and Sons [1]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst, Beloved, Byleth wants to be a good kid, I have a lot of feels, Jeralt is a good dad, Nonbinary My Unit | Byleth, Other, Pre-Timeskip | Academy Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Spoilers, Spoilers for Pre-Timeskip | Academy Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Title from a Mumford & Sons Song, mumford and sons, no beta we die like Glenn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-08
Updated: 2020-02-08
Packaged: 2021-02-22 14:41:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22617754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TygerRises/pseuds/TygerRises
Summary: The Divine Pulse couldn't stop what needed to be stopped.The Divine Pulse can help say what needed to be said.#FE3HSongWeek
Relationships: Jeralt Reus Eisner & My Unit | Byleth
Series: FE3H Song Prompt Week - Mumford and Sons [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1627240
Comments: 8
Kudos: 60





	Beloved

**Author's Note:**

> This is part of FE3H Song Prompt Week, or #FE3HSongWeek. Details [ Here! ](https://twitter.com/tygerrises/status/1223077877144526849?s=20)
> 
> It's never too late to join in <3 Pick and Album and let's go!
> 
> Album: Mumford and Sons - Delta  
> Song: [ Beloved](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQL9zAppq2k)
> 
> Highly recommend giving the song a listen, it's amazing and you'll feel the emotion >~<

Words burned in their throat, sounds of comfort and admiration choked between emotions they'd not quite put names to. Strange feelings coiled around their heart, squeezing their first tears out as the ran began to fall, cold and unyielding. Jeralt took raspy, shuddering breaths beneath them, barely managing his own words as he thanked them - _thanked_ them.

 _No, no, no!_

_This isn't how it is supposed to go!_

Time was theirs to manipulate, and yet it hadn't been enough to do what needed to be done. Jeralt was still bleeding, his head lolling to the side as both rain and salty tears dropped on his face. His breathing slowed to a crawl before it ceased entirely, pulling another wave of self-hatred and sheer _grief_ from the marrow of their bones. 

_Damnit!_

So much needed to be said, and yet Byleth sat in the mud, cradling Jeralt, having said none of it. They'd been too overcome with emotion - too overwhelmed by the sheer flood of feelings they'd yet to truly suss through - No, they had been as audible as Jeralt was now. Quiet.

How _dare_ he say he was happy. He was gone now, and the only thing left of him was a broken husk of a body and the memories Byleth would hold of him. If only he'd known the things Byleth _wanted_ to say to their father. Tears were a crutch, something to drown in while they struggled to breathe, struggled to speak.

"..." 

Even now, as they tried to summon the words, they never came. The only thing that left their throat was choking gasps as hot tears continued to fall, spilling over their eyes like a loose dam. They'd seen students cry before, but not for things such as this, never something so fresh. So raw. 

So permanent. 

They tried to stifle the quick breaths, the feeling of hyperventilation tingling at their fingers, and the edge of their consciousness. They had to calm down. 

Calm down. 

Calm down. 

Their hands shook as the rain poured harder, body numb to the cold that had settled in. 

"... D-dad.." 

_Damnit!_

Did he know? Did he know how much Byleth had cared, whether they'd genuinely known it for what it was? Jeralt might as well have been alone, with how useless Byleth felt. Divine Pulse hadn't been enough to do what needed to be done, but…

An idea struck them, so profound that Sothis herself could feel it, pressing on the edge of their consciousness as if to warn them. " _You cannot change what has happened. You should know this."_ She was there. She was always there. 

They may not be able to change what happened, but... They could change what they said, how they reacted. Tell Jeralt how they feel. 

" _Manipulating time is not a toy. I did not bestow this power to you to waste it, trying to change something that cannot be changed."_

"It can't be changed!" Too aggressive. Too loud. Even still, they were muted by the storm. "But he needs to know - he has to - I don't think I - I - I ever said-" The emotions were coming back, but there was no Jeralt here to reassure them that it was okay, to help steer them through the feelings they were stumbling through. "I never told him." 

Sothis was quiet, her presence there but fleeting. She could've been mistaken for asleep had Byleth not learned the way it felt when they weren't being watched, when Sothis wasn't experiencing their life along with them. How did this make her feel? Had she experienced loss?

They did not wait for permission. Time began to warp around them, the dark haze of the Divine Pulse rippling the fabric of the world until Byleth was holding Jeralt once again in their arms, watching him wince in pain as the magical dagger did its job. 

Their father panted a bit, heavy gasps not holding much air. "Sorry… It looks like… I'm going to have to leave you now." His eyes were wrenched shut, but Byleth had seen this already. No level of experience would numb the ache in their heart, however. No matter how many times they watched Jeralt writhe in pain, it would never cease to bring the flood of grief, and with that, the tears. 

As they fell onto his face, Jeralt opened his eyes in shock. The grunt of surprise stabbed into their gut like the knife had his back, all the more reason to make sure they said what needed to be said. Ever since Sothis had appeared, life had taken a turn, and with those twists in experiences came the emotions they'd lacked for so long. If they had been present before, they'd been sleeping, just like Sothis. 

_Stop_. 

This was not the time to reminisce. 

Jeralt continued, voice heavy with sorrow and… something else Byleth was not familiar with. So many things they had yet to learn. "To think that the first time I saw you cry, your tears would be for me." He couldn't look them in the eye, head too weak to turn. They did their best to stabilize it, the first difference in the timeline as Jeralt could now look them in their glassy eyes. What did that tiny smirk mean?

"It's sad, and yet… I'm happy for it."

_Speak. Say it. This is the only person in the world who has cared for you. He is beloved in more ways than one. He needs to hear it._

".... D-Dad." 

Jeralt's eyes refocused, brow furrowing a bit as he struggled to keep his sight sharp. Byleth was the focal point. 

"Before you… leave… " 

Their hand gripped the back of his head a little tighter, feeling a wave of sadness roll their stomach. Despite the Divine Pulse, time was not on their side. 

"I need you to know that I love you." 

The words were getting more accessible as the rain slowly picked up, almost hurrying Byleth along. With each word that left their lips and each raindrop that numbed their skin, the rest of them got easier. Jeralt watched in stunned silence, body too weak to raise his hand to cup his child's cheek. 

"I never said it. I never knew what it was, I never… felt much of anything, and now that I know the name for it, I never said it, and I'm sorry, I'm so sorry-" Too much. Too many words, they were spilling out like the rain that surged. "-I couldn't save you, and I just needed you to know, so you would… know." They were never eloquent, and Byleth couldn't give coherency or flowery language. The only thing they could provide Jeralt before was results. 

When results failed, words. 

When words failed, love.

It hadn't been this difficult before, why did the tears not stop? Choking sobs racked their body as Byleth's head tipped forward, pressing against Jeralt's forehead. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I love you, dad." 

Powerful memories flooded through Byleth's brain, almost to the point they blamed Sothis. Placing their first white flower crown on Jeralt's head during the Garland Moon, training together on Monastery grounds, traveling across Fodlan together… Jeralt had been the only constant. 

And he was leaving. 

They couldn't - wouldn't - hold him back, but that didn't stop the pain that ebbed in his wake. 

A weak hand rose to their cheek, a rough, calloused thumb brushing away a thin line of tears. Byleth's breathing stopped just long enough to hear the weak reply. 

"... _thank you, kid. I love you too."_

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading~
> 
> My [Twitter](https://twitter.com/tygerrises) for misc shenanigans!
> 
> First non-Setleth piece, be gentle <3 Kudos and Comments give me life, and I love ya'll.
> 
> Sorry it was so short >.<


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